Ex-NFL Player in Custody Over School Threat

Former NFL player Jonathan Martin was arrested for making threats to elite prep school, Harvard Westlake. Robert Kovacik reports for the NBC4 News at 10 on Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. (Published Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018)

A former NFL lineman who accused teammates of bullying him when he played for the Miami Dolphins was detained in connection with a social media post that led to the closing of a Southern California high school.

Harvard Westlake High School in the Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles, the former school of lineman Jonathan Martin, was closed Friday while police investigated a possible security threat.

The North Hollywood division of the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Martin was detained for questioning.

A message was sent about 7:15 a.m. via the school's emergency alert notification system that advised students to stay home from the 700 N Faring Rd. campus Friday, according to a posting on the school's website.

"Students already on campus will be supervised and protected in designated areas until parents can make arrangements to pick them up or for them to return home safely,'' the notification said.

"We apologize for the short notice; the safety of our students is our highest priority,'' the notification said.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the investigation was centering on a posting on Instagram.

Online images of the Instagram message show a photo of a shotgun with a several shotgun shells, emblazoned with the hashtags #HarvardWestlake and #MiamiDolphins. The text of the post reads, "When you're a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge."

The post also tags former Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey, and a pair of former Harvard-Westlake classmates.

Martin played at Harvard Westlake before competing at Stanford University. He was drafted by the Dolphins and had a brief, but tumultuous NFL career. As a rookie, he accused teammate Incognito of bullying and was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in 2014. He also played briefly for the Carolina Panthers.